TTT = Tiffany’s Tokyo Trip! Hello all!! I’m finally posting some ‘real’ photos from my trip to Tokyo a couple weeks ago. I’m very sorry that I didn’t really get anywhere with that last post, but thank you for being patient with me. =) So here is my first official full day in Tokyo, since we got there during the evening the day before and that doesn’t really count! Anyway our plan for the day was going to the Ghibli Museum and also seeing the Roppongi district.

It was our first experience with taking the train around and it was relatively simple to figure out! Everyone I talked to about the transit system made it seem so tricky! It also helps that there was three of us because there was always one of us that knew where they were going. The Ghibli Museum is located in the Mitaka district and it was only a short 20 minute train ride to get there. From the Mitaka station it was about a 15 minute walk to get to the museum. We had to walk through a nice park/forest area to get to there and along the way there were signs telling you how much further it was!

Studio Ghibli is responsible for bringing you many wonderful animated films such as ‘My Neighbor Totoro’, ‘Princess Mononoke’, ‘Spirited Away’ and most recently ‘Ponyo’. I have yet to see Ponyo, but I highly recommend the other ones if you haven’t seen them yet!

Walking to the museum..

A giant Totoro was there to greet you at the park entrance but that’s not really where you get your tickets from! haha

Outside of the museum. Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to take photos inside the museum but it was so amazing inside. It was really cool to see the initial sketches for many the movies. My favorite was the strobe light figurine animation thing! Hard to describe exactly what it was like..you should just go see it for yourself! The whole museum was quite an inspiring experience.

This is the Robot from the movie Castle in the Sky which can be found on the rooftop. It is the guardian of the museum!

Some kids having fun playing with the well.

A cheerful ‘manhole’ cover on the ground where the water from the well flowed into. I love it!

Some soot in the window.

Another shot outside of the museum.

This is the ticket they give you when you go in! It features different film clips from Studio Ghibli movies (not sure what movie mine is from though, does anyone know?). With the ticket you can watch an exclusive short animation that is only shown at the museum! We watched a really cute animation about a lost puppy and it’s little girl owner.

Some goodies that I bought from the Ghibli Museum gift shop! Two extremely soft and adorable hand towels, three Totoro keychains, a Totoro plush and some confectionary cookies!

Close up on the Ponyo towel! Pretty cute!

I love Totoro!

A street in Mitaka where we had lunch and explored after the museum. Can you spot where we had lunch?? Hint golden arches! hahah
Yep our first meal in Tokyo was McDonalds.. one of us had a Teriyaki Chicken burger, another got the Spicy Crispy Chicken and I was boring and got a McChicken! The chicken was a little bit different than home though! Less processed maybe?? Hmmm
After lunch we explored a little bit and we found a store that sold all sorts of snacks and candy. We all bought some treats (I’ll find the picture of the candy later) and then went back to our hotel to drop off our goodies and get ready for Roppongi later.

Roppongi! It’s infamous for it’s nightlife although we didn’t go clubbing or anything. We explored the Roppongi Hills area which has lots of shopping, dining and sights to see.

The 30 ft high spider sculpture aka “Maman” at Roppongi Hills. It’s by artist ‘Louise Bourgeois’ and there are several similar bronze casts of the spider located around the world.

A view of the Tokyo Tower and the TV Asahi building.

For those not fond of giant spiders, here is a giant rose sculpture! Rose looks really dark but the silhoutte is kind of cool.

After exploring the area we saw an ad for a Sky Aquarium. We thought that sounded cool so we went over to the Mori Tower to check it out! We ended up getting a three in one package that cost 2000 yen. The ticket included access to the Mori Art Musuem, Tokyo City View and the Sky Aquarium. Totally unplanned but it turned out to be awesome!

We decided to see the art museum first. There was an art exhibition that featured works from Beijing artist, Ai Wei Wei. He was the artistic consultant in designing the Bird’s Nest stadium for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

According to the English audio guide we had, he was a big fan of the number one, and geometrical shapes.

Teahouse! Actually! A house made entirely of compressed tea leaves.

It’s a little hard to see, but the hole in the wood is forming a map of China!

These boxes are called moon chests and are made from old dressers. They’re called moon chests because when you look through them it looks like the phases of the moon.

Pretty neat!

Coca Cola logo on an old vase. A combination of past and present!

I picked up some little trinkets by artist ‘Takashi Murakami’ from the gift shop. He has collaborated with Louis Vuitton for the superflat monogram series and also with Kanye West for Kanye’s “Graduation” album art. I just love the smiley flower! I almost got a big pillow version, but alas settled for the small one.

Super cute animation by Murakami for Louis Vuitton.

Went to the Tokyo City View next and wow, what a nice view it was!

We saved the Sky Aquarium for last! They had Sea Horses, so cool!

I love the colours in this photo!

Am I not turtley enough for the turtle club??? Tooortle.. tooortle..

What is this fish?! It’s so weird looking yet cute at the same time!

Don’t know what this is..

Anemone! I really like this one.

The Jelly Fish are having a disco dance party.

These jellyfish are so squishy looking! I just want to…. *ouch!!*

These guy’s bubble eyes worry me, they look like they’ll pop at any minute and it seems like it would be painful.. aw

Nemos! Those glass triangle things are cool, you could look into them and it would be like a kaleidoscope when the fish swim behind it!

Such a cool tank for the fishies.

Many of the fish tanks were beautifully designed.

Once we were finished in the Sky Aquarium, we left Mori Tower and discovered this going on outside!

Some sort of festival thing and there was food! After doing some research I found out it was the “Bon Odori Festival” that weekend! We were there on Friday so there was only food, however if we were to go on Saturday or Sunday there are live performances on the stage.

Many girls were dressed in their summer kimono aka ‘Yukata’! There are so pretty. I wanted to get one but I don’t know when I would ever wear it back in Canada..

Street in Roppongi.

The Hard Rock Cafe! ..and Tony Roma’s haha. My friend got some souvenirs for her dad who collects Hard Rock merch from all over the world!

Hard Rock x Hello Kitty!

That’s all for Day 1, coming up for the next post is the famous Tsukiji Fish Market, Ginza and Odaiba! Hope you’re enjoying reading about my trip so far! Don’t forget to leave a comment! Thanks =)

1. TTT Day 1 ~ Ghibli Museum and Roppongi Hills
2. TTT Day 2 ~ Tsukiji, Ginza and Odaiba
3. TTT Day 3 ~ Shibuya & Harajuku
4. TTT Day 4 ~ Tokyo Disneyland
5. TTT Day 5 ~ Tokyo DisneySea
6. TTT Day 6 ~ Imperial Palace, Asakusa, Akihabara
7. TTT Day 7 ~ Nikko